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In this PART 6 post you’ll find a list of ideas to help you develop lesson plans for teaching the verb “TO LISTEN” and some “Statements of Preference” (TO LIKE/LOVE/ENJOY). For step-by-step examples of how to teach these types of lessons, please see the comprehensive lesson transcripts from parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this series entitled, “Teaching Grammar In The Target Language.”

Remember, our main approach/principle for teaching grammar while staying in the target language is…

…give students MEANINGFUL EXPERIENCES in which the target grammar structures are used often enough to be noticed and acquired.

Instructional Activities/Strategies

Making learning the verbs “TO LISTEN” and “TO LIKE” meaningful by listening to and discussing music in the target language.

1- “To Listen” – Future Tense

First, identify a variety of popular musical selections from the target culture. Introduce the verb forms of “to listen” by saying (in the target language) things like, “Michael will listen to Song #1. Rachael will listen to Song #2. William and Thomas will listen to Song #3 and the rest of us will listen to song #4.”

Help students practice the introduced forms of the verb by continuing in the following fashion, “Class, who will listen to Song #2? (Students answer.) And who will listen to Song #1? (Students answer.) etc.”

Help students practice writing complete sentences that include these verb forms by doing the following: “Okay Class. Let’s write it on the board. Ummm. Who will listen to Song #1? (Student answers.) Great. Let’s write that on the board so we can remember.” Repeat until the written list is complete.

Use iPads, CD players, computers, listening stations to allow the students to listen to the assigned songs. The first time the songs are played students should only be asked to listen.

The second time the songs are played, circulate throughout the room and ask students, “Are you listening to Song #1 or are you listening to Song #2?” Motion thumbs up or thumbs down and ask, “Do you like the song or do you not like the song?”

3- “To Listen” – Past Tense | “To Like or Not Like” Past Tense

Conduct a debriefing time and ask questions like, “Class, what song did Rachael listen to?” (Class answers and Teacher continues.) “Rachael, is it true? Did you listen to Song #1? …or did you listen to Song #2?” AND, “Rachael did you like Song #1 or did you not like Song #1?”

Reinforcement / Student Practice ideas:

Repeat steps 1, 2 and 3 several times over the span of a week or 2 weeks. Assign different songs to each student every time the activity is repeated.

Assessment Ideas:

Non-Digital Assessment Option: Teacher writes a friendly letter (addressed to “Dear _____”) using content and grammar structures from this unit. (i.e. “Hi. How are you? I like music. Do you like music? I like the song called ______. I listened to the song 4 times on Sunday. Do you listen to the song called ______? Do you like the song or do you not like the song? What songs do you like?”

For the assessment students must write back. Create a rubric to help students know how you will grade them.

Digital Assessment Option: Distribute iPads, laptops or simply pen and paper. Create a Google Doc and share the shareable link with each student. Students open the Google Doc on their device and prepare to collaborate. Teacher writes a series of questions for students to answer while also asking the questions outloud. Students follow the progression of questions verbally and on their screen. Students are only required to find the question(s) next to their name and answer. Questions can include, “Rachael what songs did you listen to?” “Rachael, which songs did you like?” “Rachael, which songs did you not like?” Rachael is required to write her answer on the Google Doc.

Alternatively, Teacher can have the questions already written.

REFLECT: What did the students experience during this activity?

Students repeatedly heard, read and said different forms of the verb for “to listen and to like”.

Unit assessments were meaningful and generally non-threatening to reluctant students.

Digital assessment option allows students to practice collaborating and to learn 21st century skills.

The teacher stayed in the target language.

The students realized that they could not only survive in an L2-immersion environment but that it can be fun.

Have you tried out any of these grammar teaching suggestions from Tuesday’s Tips for Staying in the Target Language? How did it go? Leave comments below or add to the conversation on twitter by using #langchat (for general language teaching comments) and/or #TL90plus (for“staying in the target language” comments).

Stay tuned to over the next weeks for more blog posts on teaching grammar while staying in the target language.